Post navigation

Day 201: The Laundry Room

I have this staff that’s supposed to be taking daily progress photos of The Lodge: editing them, writing updates, and posting progress reports here daily. That’s in my staff’s job description; that’s what we agreed to when I hired them. And I was assured by this staff that they were equal to the task, that they’d rise to the occasion, that they’d do everything in their power to document this Lodge remodel with commitment and singleness of heart. It was upon this premise that I decided to hire this staff.

The only problem is this: I’m the staff. If I could fire myself, I would.

I’ll be posting a very comprehensive Lodge update in the coming days, bringing you up to speed on the progress of the kitchen (we’re almost there) and the bathrooms (I’ve refined materials, thanks to your always-helpful and wise advice), not to mention future topics like paint colors and treatments, landscaping, lighting, and…gulp…furniture.

For today, though, I’d like to show you the Laundry Room.

It looks pretty much like the bathrooms, doesn’t it? And the bedrooms…and the closets…and the kitchen. That’s what happens when you haven’t progressed past the sheet rock.

Here’s the seed I want to plant: because I’ve been so busy worrying about the visible areas of the kitchen—kitchen, bedrooms, deck—I’d normally be in danger of just blowing off the laundry room, slapping a coat or two of white paint in there, tossing in a nondescript washer-dryer, and shutting the door. But I got to thinking: What if I treated the laundry room with the same care and attention with which I’m treating the other areas of The Lodge? What if I gave it a little thought, a little more consideration?

Or, better yet, I thought, what if ask my PW friends about it? Ahhh, I liked that idea. So that’s what I’m doing this morning.

How would you make this laundry room fabulous? I’m thinking a great color for the washer-dryer: red or chrome or bronze. I’m thinking a rich color on the walls. I’m thinking something cool in terms of cabinetry. Something un-laundry-roomish. Something unexpected.

I’d love to hear what you’ve done in your own tricked-out laundry rooms, or what you’d do if you WERE TO trick out your laundry rooms! Color schemes? Cabinet features? Bells & whistles?

If there’s one thing I’ve learned during the past six months, I get better ideas from listening to your perspective, advice, and comments than I’d ever get from flipping through design magazines, shopping around, or talking things through with “my staff.”

“Staff”—ha. They’re not worthy of the title!

Post navigation

Share:

Share this post:

Comment:Post a comment:

Comments

http://fiveblondes.com/ Erica

Laundry? Ask my fiance. He enjoys doing it – crazy, I know!
Growing up we could have used a double washer/dryer. I don’t care what colour. Just double, so the laundry piles don’t sneak out to the living room!

I think a bright fun color would help make enetring the room less “painful” , maybe even something on the wall other than just paint? Just a thought! :]

http://www.chocolatechic.wordpress.com chocolatechic

If I were to redo my laundry room, I’d do it in Ocean Blue, White and Lime. Those colors together are so refreshing and clean.

I’d also have a waist height table for folding laundry, and plenty of space to have hangers hanging so I could hang up clothes when they come out of the dryer.

I’d also hire a laundress, so I wouldn’t have to be in that room.ever.again!

http://punkrebelmama.blogspot.com Punk Rebel Mama

I ADORE my stacking laundry bins…their a retail store fixture, but I use them to hold my sorted dirty laundry!

They are wire bins that stack and my daughter and husband will sort their own dirty clothes now…when a bin is full, I just haul everything out and into the wash. No digging thru disgusting piles of Mt. Washmore….AND one load a day is sufficient…If I do a load a day I am considering my laundry Done.

Katie from Cali

My laundry room is Green, like hunter green behind the washer and dryer that are like 20 years old and yellow. It is a tiny space but I put up shelves instead of cabinets with green and tan stripped boxes. My laundry room is nothing fancy. But i love the hunter green wall. if I was to redo it it would be a pale green with green washer and dryer and a standalone freezer

Ditto on the table and places to hang clothes…and I’d want a large basin type sink for soaking stuff or hand washing.

imr

You can never have enough cabinets and drawers in a laundry room.

My gramma had a chute in her bathroom that led directly to a basement bin that was beside the washing machine. At the end of the day, gramma and grampa would drop their dirty clothes down the chute (discretely covered by a cabinet) and the next day gramma would put the dirty laundry in the washer. Saved her from carrying a heavy basked of laundry to the basement.

Amy

Ya gotta go with some type of bold color for the washer & dryer. Since I have the least updated laundry room in SoCal I can’t comment on trickin’ anything out but I’m eager to read what more updated and stylish folks will suggest so I can take note myself! 🙂

http://www.whathappensnext.typepad.com What Happens Next...

Haha… my “staff” hasn’t been taking pictures of our remodel like they were hired to do, either! *sigh*

I hate it when life interrupts our grandiose plans.

Laundry room?? Too small. Couldn’t be helped. Another big sigh. 🙂

Debi

If I was to do that laundrey room, hmmm I am loving the new GE Profile washer and dryer in Vermillion Red….Georgeous!!! Plus this new washer can hold up to 6 months of laundry soap, softner, and bleach!! WOO HOO

I think I would go for warm tone in paint color but something that was inviting, something that would go with the beautiful color on the washer. A waist high counter is a must!!! Plenty of space to fold laundry, and of course you need the wonderful nitches for the baskets for each childs laundry, so then it becomes their responsibility to put the clothes away. Space to hang clothes straight from the dryer.

***Also, I might suggest a seperate bin (nitches with basket) for those misterious missing sockls……They will have there own space…YEAH!
Not sure how much ironing you do but a built in board would be a wonderfull addition and out of the way when not in use.
Last but not least…..a sink. Always good for a multitude of laundry woes!!!
CANT WAIT TO SEE WHAT YOU COME UP WITH!!! HAVE FUN!

JEAN

I would make a place for folding the laundry- a taller table that had cubbies below to put the kiddos stuff so they can put them away themselves. plenty of light (natural or not). a window would be good too, for fresh air. enough shelves to hold everything. some tall places to hang clothes that can’t be dried. a wash basin for those tough stains that must be pre-treated and soaked somewhere (other than the bathroom sink). i think that covers it… : )

Anonymous

I would actually do a whole wall in closet rods. I hang my Husbands uniforms in on mine right out of the dryer – so easy.

http://www.pennyrodgers.blogspot.com penny

Go for it! I don’t know about you but I spend A LOT of TIME in my laundry room and it’s probably the least desirable room in my house! I would go for functional style! …and do some hunting on the washer and dryer, I’ve seen some new ones in magazines that look REALLY COOL!

lisa_h

i actually love doing laundry (i know, i’m a freak) so i would love to design myself a “dream laundry room” someday.
i would definitely put in 2 sinks…one for soaking and one for rinsing things…and a giant countertop space for folding…and a clothesline for hanging things to dry…and a rack for hanging shirts just out of the dryer so i wouldn’t have to fold them…and if money were no object, a tv so i could watch the food network while i did all of this.

gscott

I love the new red and even the blue colored washer and dryers out these days. I would love to redo my laundry room too. I think a fun mural on the wall would be cool or just bright clean colors. But it a must to have a place to hang and fold clothes. 🙂

Jacquline

Ree – you are on to something! I LOVE this idea… How unexpected would a totally tricked out, modern laundry room be in your uber-comfy lodge?

If I were you, I’d get a washer/dryer set in a neat color (green is my favorite color), paint the walls a soothing, clean color and get the brightest minds (like us, for example) to steer you in the right direction for cabinets/folding and hanging areas.

Melanie

Oh, I am jealous of large laundry rooms. I would have the fun colored washer and dryer against a rich toned wall. I would also have a center island or space for folding clothes. A place for an inegrated ironing board that can fold up out of the way. Place for hanging clothes with lots of hangers. A large utility sink is essential. Then, of course, since you will be spending lots of time in the most fabulous laundry room doing laundry a wall mounted tv and/or stereo.

http://www.shawnanigans.net nancypants

Staff – reporting for duty Sir PW!

Bronze washer and dryer (or more than one set if you are having big groups there!) A very light airy blue — like a whispering baby blue. That’s what I think. Earth tones mixed with sky tones. When I think of laundry rooms (in a dreamy sense, far from my reality that is) I want to think of a happy breeze dancing over sheets on a clothes line on a crisp blue morning. This is dream land mind you. My laundry room doesn’t effervesce these feelings in me. But if yours could, how great would that be?

So I say, think “breeze,” “Zephyr,” and butter churns nearby and a happy bubbling brook in the distance… Whatever takes you there should be the starting point for doing your laundry room there.

Lisa in California

My “laundry room” is the space in the garage next to our van. If I could have a room just for doing laundry, I’d include a small tv that I could watch while folding and hanging clothes. I hate having to run quickly to the dryer during a commercial. I’d include counter space for folding as well as a rod or two for hanging clean items as I remove them from the dryer.

http://www.xanga.com/Bratfink Brat

Anything to keep from bending over! Women do way too much bending over, so shelves for all the soaps and stuff, and laundry sorter stuff.